Full text from image above: APT gave me a clear roadmap into the theatre community.

I didn’t think that a life or career in the arts was viable. But APT connected me to so many people. I’m not sure I would have even known about recommender grants without APT. And that, when I was just starting out, was so vital to everything.

Now I’m in a near full-time job. I guarantee I would not have been at WhyNot Theatre Company without APT. There’s not a chance.

My early grants were not good. But now they’re 50% successful or higher. A lot of that is understanding how the different funders see an individual artist’s practice.

It makes me feel great when we get a grant for a project, and it means I get to pay people! That feels really good. Because it makes our community, I hope, a little more sustainable.

APT helped me see the systems that allow us to create the work. Having that knowledge is a kind of power. I wish more people were able to access that.

Full text of image above:Last year I was an artist with some regional theatre credits and a few festival successes under my belt. THIS year:

…I produced my own smash-hit show at Fringe: #KanderandEbb sold out its entire run at the Fringe - that’s never happened to me before. Yes, it was absolutely a good show, but what made it stand out was the way it was produced. I used it as an exercise during APT, so that was a direct result of what I learned in the program.

…I’m the Second Vice President of Equity. Learning about Canadian Actors’ Equity in APT taught me the association’s strengths, and where I thought they could improve. That meant when I ran for the Equity Council, I knew what I was talking about. I won the election, became one of seven regional councillors from Ontario, and was voted Second Vice President.

…and I produced a show at Next Stage! A fellow APT graduate invited me to produce at NSTF - my first time bearing the title of ‘Producer.’ I’ve been asked to sit on an arts council jury. I’ve had conversations with Soulpepper and Luminato. APT put resource directly in my path and expanded my network in ways I didn’t even think were possible.

I never identified as a producer before APT. The success of #KanderandEbb leveled up my career, and made people look at me in a new way. It was a direct line here from APT.

Full text from image above: As the sole income-earner, and mom, I needed to make a living and support my family.

I knew I wasn’t going to be able to work as a performer or freelance director, at least not at this time in my life. I needed to find steady work.

I had applied to do my MFA so I could teach and make a living. But APT felt like the best way to use the skills that I already had, and refine them. So I ended up doing both that year. I came away feeling like APT was way more valuable.

It was a crash-course in meeting everybody. They brought in people from interesting companies. We learned about community engagement, and partnering with other organizations, which was something I wouldn’t have thought of before.

It opened my eyes to the opportunities that can come from community-engaged art, and why we do this.

There’s still so much to learn, but I’m feeling pretty confident. That’s a pretty amazing thing. I am on the right track.

APT brought me into the supportive indie community. I got a full-time job, a steady job. I feel optimistic now.

Left to right: Kate Nankervis, Tina Fushell, and Robyn Breen of the Love-In, Kristina Lemieux and Sedina Fiati of Generator, and Oriana Pagnotta of the Love-In.

In December, we partnered with the Toronto Dance Community Love-In (now a Resident Company at Generator) and Daniels Spectrum for our first ever #UrgentExchange devoted to dance. Together with the Love-In, we asked community members to vote in Twitter and Instagram polls choosing between the topics “Accessible Process Now” and “Stop Abuse and Exploitation.” The results were 50/50 on Twitter, so the deciding votes were on Instagram, where 74% told us that what was most urgent in dance was stopping abuse and exploitation: how do we dismantle harmful power structures and create safer spaces?

On December 17, we gathered at Daniels Spectrum. ASL interpretation was provided by Rogue Benjamin. After introductions from Generator and the Love-In, we invited participants to rotate through each of the following four topics, in 25-minute sessions:

Social Location facilitated by Jiv Parasram: understanding the ways in which we ALL hold power and privilege

Race facilitated by Rodney Diverlus: examining the race problem in dance, and what we can do about it

Gender facilitated by Sze-Yang Ade-Lam: from understanding how gender plays a role in conversations about power, to asking everyone’s pronouns

Community Agreements, facilitated by Sedina Fiati: what they are, what goes into building them, and how to incorporate them into your process

We also had an open table available for folks who had other topics they wanted to discuss. Before we started, a participant proposed that this be a space to discuss Accessibility. Unlike many other #UrgentExchange conversations (like #MeToo One Year Later on December 9), there was no recorded or live-streamed component to this event - this was to encourage open and frank dialogue. Instead, we invited “witnesses” to observe each of the four topics, as well as the open table, and write down their thoughts and learnings. What follows are the responses of our five witnesses, along with resources we suggest for further learning. To find out more about each of the witnesses, scroll down to the bottom of the page.

Molly Johnson responds to RACE, facilitated by Rodney Diverlus

First up, this discussion was COMPLEX - beyond a summary listing of what we got into, I don't have the means with which to fully share it. The following is one distillation of my experience and what it sparked for me - I could offer many others.

I'm a witness at the race table and as a white person talking about race, my cheeks are pretty fucking red as soon as I speak. I don't want to fuck up, you don't want to fuck up - there are different measures of what that means at this table. Discomfort is necessary. Discomfort is something I have spent a lot of my life avoiding. Discomfort is a thing some of us get to avoid and some of us are thrust into, and that becomes real apparent real fast.

The speed dating vibes are almost useful in that there's no time to waste and we get to it as quickly as we can but it feels a little too emblematic of [my experience of] the dance community - and the white capitalist hetero-patriarchal society from which it takes its cues - AKA as a place where good intentions and conversation starters abound but very rarely result in meaningful change. The system is in full effect even in environments like this where the intention, I believe, is wholehearted.

One of the prompts Rodney gives us is to answer what is missing in the conversation on race in dance. I look around the room and think not so much about what topic is missing but about who is missing: 99% of the white men in the dance community are missing, dance artists over the age of 45 are missing, the power holders in the dance community are missing - the two previous categories and the educators, presenters, funders, and artists who are on operating are missing. These people are not in the room. These people need to be in the room. I take my sharpie marker and write this down on my little post it note. But then what? I write it here and maybe somebody reads it and feels called out but then gets over it and pays attention. Or...business as usual.

It's weird and informative and enlightening and troubling to see Rodney run the same drill for each session. All I can think about it is how many times he's had this conversation. He's civil and articulate and kind. I recognize these things and how I appreciate them and then recognize the scary mental space of appreciating racialized people conducting conversations about something that is actually pretty fucking abhorrent in a civil, articulate, kind way so that white people can feel okay inside the conversation about the thing they created and continue to perpetuate but mostly avoid discussing. None of that is exactly what it is but it's also not not that.

What is missing in the conversation on race in dance? White people are missing. Urgency on behalf of white people is missing. The point is very often missing. We are still getting confused between having enough and having privilege. We are still crying meritocracy at the same time as knowing full well that meritocracies are a fallacy when each of us begins with very different resources, very different access points, and that this dance world is still being built for a certain kind of person to thrive.

Mikaela Demers responds to SOCIAL LOCATION, facilitated by Jiv Parasram

On Monday, December 17th, #UrgentExchange Stop Abuse and Exploitation in Toronto Dance was co-hosted by Generator TO and The Dance Community Love-in at Daniels Spectrum. All who attended rotated between four tables every 25 minutes, set up with stationary facilitators focused on different topics. I had the fortune to sit with Jivesh Parasram who was facilitating conversation around the topic of social location or position.

After quick introductions, Jiv led our table in a fairly common exercise:

The Power Flower, with all of its flaws, is designed to demonstrate where you fall in the societal power structure of a chosen community. The idea is, that through completing the Power Flower, as a group, conversations between table members will surface. Jiv explained the Power Flower with transparency and facilitated each group with a personalized sense of care. As a witness of three different groups of people who came to the table, it was hard not to notice the radical differences between groups as a whole during their experience of the Power Flower.

Group 1 selected a community of focus and flew through completing the Power Flower. When Jiv asked, for example, “Sexual orientation? Which group has the most power in community X?” answers from the group came with immediacy, confidence and often from multiple people. Some categories did give some group members pause, but it seemed that even lack of knowledge was admitted with certainty and in the spirit of learning. ‘Human/Non-human’ is an example of a category that resulted in an exchange between an artist who admitted to not understanding what the category meant. A fellow artist reciprocated, with care, on a perspective to consider for this category (SUCH A BEAUTIFUL MOMENT). But in general, the group went around the Power Flower and the categories were filled in with small clarifying conversations by different folks in the group.

When Group 2 was asked the same questions by Jiv, responses were more frequently returned with whole minutes of silence. Answers came as offerings; suggestions or guesses in quiet voices and a questioning tone. The group was preoccupied with the semantics of the exercise as opposed to the goals, spending the majority of their time dissecting the Power Flower as opposed to generating productive and critical discourse. By the end of the 25 minutes, a third of the Power Flower had been completed.

In reflection, there were a number of takeaways from the evening:

The varying responses in groups as a whole and the productivity or level of understanding surrounding the topic of social position is a reminder that it is important to recognize and call out power structures around us.

The Power Flower requires the active participation of its participants. Much like creating change, active conversation in a safe space provides more learning opportunities and overall productivity.

Members of the Toronto Dance Community are at varying levels of understanding or comfort with conversations that focus on critical observation and reflection on the community.

Upon reflection, group 2 brought to light blind spots or areas to be considered in future conversations for the Toronto Dance Community. Seeing gaps in understanding or an inability to participate is essential to continuing conversations of this nature with goals of critical discourse and affecting change in a community as a whole.

Kallee Lins responds to COMMUNITY AGREEMENTS, facilitated by Sedina Fiati

Efficiency. Legacies of colonialism. The way things have always been done. Inequalities and hierarchies in the creative process. These were some of the responses cited as reasons why community agreements have historically not been used in the studio.

Implicit in hierarchical processes of dance creation is that the product is prioritized above the people involved. As a collaboratively built document, community agreements have the ability to flip this equation and fundamentally shift the distribution of power. Creating an agreement allows a group to explicitly – and contractually – answer the question, “How do we want to operate in this space?” Its strength comes from everyone involved agreeing to what is included and seeing their needs reflected.

During our #UrgentExchange conversation on the topic, facilitator Sedina Fiati outlined three key questions to scaffold a community agreement:

How do we want to be treated?

How will we deal with conflict?

What accessibility needs do we have?

The second question is crucial – it builds in an accountability structure. Who can performers go to if someone causes them harm, particularly if it’s the choreographer/director at fault? Should a “mediator” be named to resolve intractable conflicts? While a safer, more joyful creative space may be the goal, ensuring the rules of that environment are enforced is vital to its sustainability.

Participants were urged to consider accessibility in a broad way, and to ask themselves what would allow all participants to not only function, but to thrive. This approach considers physical barriers like venue accessibility, and less visible obstacles like access to childcare, knowing when performers will be paid, or the use of video and other memory aids in rehearsal.

Specificity in detailing how a group wants to be treated is crucial, yet what became clear in responding to question one is how rarely we’re asked to articulate our needs in a work setting. Common responses expressed a desire to be treated “with respect” and “with dignity”. The next level of conversation prompted us to describe exactly what those conditions look like. For some, it meant that “the physical and emotional health of each person is valued,” that “there’s permission to fail, slow down, and divert,” and that “my opinions will be listened to”.

While community agreements are a practical tool to create a safer work environment, perhaps their greatest strength is in providing the space to question our needs and envision what a fairer, more equitable process of creation looks like. The possibility of better creative spaces exists; we can start by rewriting the terms of engaging with one another.

Nickeshia Garrick responds to GENDER, facilitated by Sze-Yang Ade-Lam

I'd like to preface this by saying that #UrgentExchange organized by Generator is a necessary start to the thoughts and conversations needed to inform change within the Dance and Arts community. If we are fighting for equity, accessibility and fair representation for those on varying spectrums (QTBIPOC, BIPOC, NB, People with Disabilities etc...) within the Toronto Arts Community, it starts with these discussions in hopes of bringing about action.

The topics being discussed for the event were Gender, Race, Social Location, Community Agreements and Accessibility, all being facilitated/witnessed on separate tables. Those attending had approximately 20-25 minutes at each table before they had to move on to the next one. I personally would have preferred us all being able to sit together and openly discuss the topics as a large group, as what was being said wasn't mutually exclusive. The set up for me resembled speed dating, being pressed to quickly get your points in before the timer went out, which can be increasingly difficult when delving into these topics, especially for individuals on varying points of the intellectual spectrum.

Being a witness for the event also allowed me access to the thoughts and suggestions of those who participated. The topics discussed were necessary, but folx were looking for more prevalent and urgent topics such as the #metoo movement, intersectionality, meritocracy, ableism etc... Other main points were, how do we get these conversations in the dominant arts institutions within Toronto? If we're fighting for institutions to update their methods of hiring, teaching/training and offering programs that are more accessible, how do we get them to change? How often will #UrgentExchange be held, and will we discuss what actions to take?

With the advent of revolutionary movements such as #BLM and #timesup, action has been made to change the mentality of corporations. The arts community in Toronto should be under the same scrutiny to change their ways as well.

Ultimately, #UrgentExchange was a night to stir things up and get people thinking about the major issues. Hopefully these talks will continue, in hopes of reaching the dominant Arts companies in Toronto so that our thoughts and concerns do not fall on deaf ears.

Fabien Maltais-Bayda on THE PROCESS & OPEN TABLE

The topic of December 17th’s #UrgentExchange was abuse in our dance communities, and more specifically, how to stop it. It’s a subject both pressing and challenging, not only because systemic abuse is a complicated matter rooted in longstanding power dynamics, but also because stopping it remains a hefty task requiring no small feat of endurance.

It was interesting to note that quite little of what I witnessed at #Urgent Exchange addressed abuse directly. This may be due to the evening’s structure, with participants rotating through sub-categorized tables: community agreements, gender, race, social location, and an open table that convened a conversation on abilities during one of the event’s multiple sessions. Significant topics in themselves, these themes tended to become the focus of discussion at the tables I observed. Yet beyond mere logistics, the event’s tendency to coalesce around topics alternate to the tagline may have had much to do with the main issue at hand. Abuse and exploitation are rarely simple questions of bad or inconsiderate behaviour. Rather, they are inherently tied to power – its imbalances and hierarchies – and are always circumscribed by factors like ability, gender, and race. To work at stopping abuse requires, almost as a prerequisite, active engagement with these social formations. It is perhaps unsurprising that, in the context of a single evening, this is about as far as things got.

Each of the conversations I observed held many important moments, but since I was tasked with witnessing the open table, it seems useful to note just a few of the ideas generated around it here. Of course, it’s important to remember just how inaccessible Toronto’s dance infrastructure is. One participant noted that engagement with the city’s contact improvisation community remains nearly impossible for many since events tend to be held at Dovercourt House – a building with many stairs and no good options for getting around them. Another significant point raised in the discussion was that accessibility is never one-size-fits-all – doorways and halls meant to provide access, for example, might be wide enough for some wheelchairs, but not others. The conversation foregrounded that accessibility requires us to consider the diverse needs of individual bodies, and asserted the importance of centering folks with lived experience.

Returning to #UrgentExchange more broadly: without a coherent plan of action generated, without the “stop” of its title put in motion, the evening and its goals might be considered unfulfilled; indeed, some of the community feedback I’ve heard suggests this. But such a feeling is also hardly surprising. Thinking back, I cannot recall even one event meant to tackle an important issue facing our community that did so comprehensively. (And this certainly includes those I’ve organized or coordinated myself.) Issues of systemic abuse, of equity, of access, are immensely complex, and a gathering of two, three, or even four hours will always be unequal to the task of making change. This isn’t to excuse or justify our many shortcomings as organizers and community members – rather, I want to re-assert the constant collective effort that tackling oppressive structures requires. If #UrgentExchange served, primarily, to begin unseaming the sturdy social fabrics of the status quo that allow abuse to continue, it succeeded in something important. Now, I think, it rests on all of us – organizers, participants, witnesses – to pull the threads further, and to build actions out from these moments of reflection.

About the Witnesses

Molly Johnson

Born and raised on Cape Breton Island, Molly Johnson makes body-based texts and performance projects exploring alternative ways of being in a capitalist patriarchal society. A Dora Award-winning dance artist, Molly has danced for and with many brilliant humans including Nova Bhattacharya, Susie Burpee, Sabina Perry, Julia Sasso, Riley Sims, and Heidi Strauss. She has spent a decade performing in public spaces with Dusk Dances, toured internationally with Montréal’s Danièle Desnoyers/Le Carré des Lombes, and was a key collaborator with Marie France Forcier from 2007 to 2016. Her collective and individual work has been presented at PS: We Are All Here, SummerWorks, Kinetic Studio, Dancemakers, Mile Zero Dance, and the Halifax Fringe Festival. Based in Toronto, Molly is co-artistic director of hub14 art + performance works and a freelance writer in the space between. thisismollyjohnson.com Molly was a member of Generator’s 2018 Performance Criticism Training Program.

Mikaela Demers

Mikaela Demers is an emerging artist and producer originally from Northern Ontario. She has been a member of earthdancers, Lila Ensemble, Parahumans, the Garage, and worked as a performer for Vanessa Jane Kimmons, Allen Kaeja, Love Letters Cabaret, Brian Solomon, Megan English and Fernando Troya. Demers has been a part of numerous collaborative choreographic performances including Celestial Play (2013), checkbox (2015) and most recently maelstrom (2017), a co-choreographed work that toured to Toronto and Thunder Bay. Her current independent creative process is based on the physical study of eye focus and awareness. Demers hosted her first independently produced show the pack: creature in May 2018. She is a member of Branch Collective, and the producer of Branch Intensive, a week-long dance intensive hosted in Sudbury, Ontario. Demers has hosted three rural residencies to date in Sudbury and on Manitoulin Island. Mikaela is part of Generator’s 2018/19 Artist Producer Training Program cohort.

Kallee Lins

Kallee moved to Toronto in 2012 to meld her love of the performing arts, research, and writing. After completing an MA in Theatre and Performance Studies at York University, and spending a number of years in the PhD in Dance Studies program, she worked as the Marketing and Communications Manager for the Dancer Transition Resource Centre. Today, Kallee is the Manager of Membership & Community at Imagine Canada, an organization working to build a strong, resilient future for all charities and nonprofits. She sits on the Board of Directors of Dusk Dances and Dance Umbrella of Ontario.

Nickeshia Garrick

Nickeshia Garrick was born in Toronto, Ontario and has been performing since the tender age of six. She received her dance training at the NYIDE (New York Institution of Dance and Education), National Ballet School of Canada, Toronto Dance Theatre and Simon Fraser University.

Nickeshia holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University (Vancouver), is currently working toward the 2019 Premiere of No Woman’s Land with Roshanak Jaberi and Karen Kaeja, and has recently become a 2018 Dora Mavor Moore Award winner for Outstanding Ensemble in Pool (no water).

Fabien Maltais-Bayda

Fabien Maltais-Bayda is a writer, researcher, and arts administrator based in Toronto. He was a Dancemakers Writer-in-Residence in 2016/17, and was shortlisted for the Ontario Association of Art Galleries art writing award in 2017. He writes for Canadian Art, Canadian Theatre Review, The Dance Current, esse, and Momus, and recently published an essay on curation and the dance retrospective, co-written with Joseph P. Henry, in the Berghahn Books volume Curating Live Arts. Fabien currently works as the Administrative Director for the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists - Ontario Chapter.

One year later, we partnered with PARADIGM productions and Daniels Spectrum to investigate how #MeToo has impacted the performance community: from triggers in the rehearsal process, to the changing role of the stage manager, to nudity and violence on stage, to the biases and blind spots that hold back change.

On December 9, 2018, we gathered at Daniels Spectrum following a performance of The Philosopher’s Wife, written by APT grad Susanna Fournier and produced by Resident Company PARADIGM productions. (Pictured: Generator’s Kristina Lemieux and PARADIGM’s Susanna Fournier and Alison Wong.)

Part One: Watch the Videos

We began with presentations exploring three perspectives across disciplines: Meghan Speakman on Stage Managing with #MeToo, Matthew Eldridge on Intimacy and Touch from the Perspective of Health Practice, and Andrea Zanin on Consent and Power: Lessons from Kink. Watch the videos below!

Inspired in part by this #UrgentExchange, the Toronto Star’s Karen Fricker wrote “One year after Soulpepper, what stage have we reached?” including reflections from both Meghan Speakman and Sedina Fiati. Read her article here.

Part Two: Read the Highlights

For the second half of the event, Generator’s APT Facilitator Sedina Fiati(pictured below) sat down with The Philosopher’s Wife team to talk about how they tackled these issues in the production. We heard from playwright, producer and actor Susanna Fournier, producer Alison Wong, and actor Chala Hunter. As a jumping-off point, we asked participants to share what they noticed about the production, and what their questions were (responses pictured below). You can watch the whole conversation on Periscope, or read some highlights below:

“It took me a long time to become the proud feminist killjoy that I now am.” -Susanna

On the Relationship with the Audience

Susanna “I think in terms of getting to a point in my practice as a playwright where I am now starting to really meet and develop audiences, for me I think the theatre contract is a stand in for a kind of social contract. So, I've invited you all to come into a space, and I’ve made something and brought other people in and I’m going to offer something, but I need you to come, and so, now we are in relationship with each other. I’ve asked you to come into relationship with me. And so I need to be aware of what my desire is, why have I asked you here, what do I think I have to offer you, what do I hope you might receive, and what am I hoping you might bring to this relationship that now we are in together.”

Alison “Introducing this work to an audience involved setting the stage, so to speak, for conversation. And really working with the intention that these plays are not meant to be let loose into the world and have them, necessarily, speak for themselves; the intention that we want to work in a way that allows the audience to come back to us, whether it is through conversation on the internet, whether it is through events like #UrgentExchange. Even the fact that it’s a trilogy, so knowing that we are building a relationship; the idea is that we want to build a relationship with our audience so that these ideas and the themes that are in the play continue to evolve and we continue to contemplate them each time we meet each other. And trying to, as much as we can with the resources we have available, to create avenues for that.”

On Theatre and Trauma

Susanna “I deal with a lot of difficult topics in my work, and I know that I am looking to create a kind of ritualized space; that potentially we can come together and grapple with some of these traumas in a way that creates even just a moment with which we can feel through them. Because I think if we are not willing to feel through them, they won’t pass through us. And so that is a really delicate thing, to go: I know I am purposely asking folks to come experience a wound, and I think if we can experience that together there is a possibility for changing a narrative around it, or allowing it to maybe leave our bodies, work through our body. I think theatre is a place for and of the body and I feel that I live in a very disembodied culture. And even sometimes in the act of theoretical talking about, of analysis around trauma, analysis around power, it’s like yes: in my head, and my body is not included. And what I find in theatre is when I am moved it’s because I am allowed to feel my way through the things I experience, not just intellectually, but in my heart, and my gut, and I guess that is the power of catharsis.”

On Power in Process

Susanna “I am learning a lot as a playwright and a producer. There is a huge amount of power you have as a playwright, in that I’m choosing content and I’m choosing whose story we are looking at and where should we look in a story in the same way the director can tell us where and who to look at. As a producer I feel that it is the most crucial realm of putting a different kind of politic in action, because I wield our culture’s powerful symbol, which is where does the money go. And you can create a process that reflects where you want to put that money. But you also choose who is on the team, how the team is going to gather, what are we going to talk about, what are we going to prioritize.”

Chala “A question I have been asking myself in many rooms, as a performer, certainly, but just as a person on the street, or in my home, or in any community or room that I happen to be in, is about how I can embody a kind of equality or community or togetherness or how I can embody the way that I hope or wish power could function in our communities, in our society. And that’s a question; I don’t have the answer to that, but I’m asking it of myself in many different circumstances, and as I ask it, trying to catch myself when I am behaving in ways that I feel I have been conditioned to, out of fear, or learned power structures, or all sorts of things. And so I would say that within the rehearsal hall, especially having been a fairly involved part of the conversation around #MeToo or Not in Our Space, or many of these conversations around harassment and consent in the performing arts and in the world, I’ve been looking to embody in rooms, to be an ally. To show in my behaviour that I will ask questions, ask for consent, be respectful, but also kind of demand it for myself. And that means doing things that make me uncomfortable, like saying no, like asking questions when I don’t understand something but feel embarrassed to ask the question. Even standing next to someone that I feel might be vulnerable in a moment, and that’s an assumption, certainly sometimes, but I’m trying to trust my intuition in those moments and err on the side of being caring and hopeful, rather than this kind of silent ‘I’m going to stay away from a situation or moment that seems like it might be dangerous, or someone might be feeling a bit vulnerable, or they maybe they need some help. And I don’t mean that specifically in this process: I’m talking about in the last year of my life, and I operate in the same way in grocery stores now as well, which I find is necessary sometimes; crazy things happen everywhere.”

Sedina “Now I’m asking myself what kinds of spaces I want to create, and who do we need to be in the space for it to be affirmative and joyful, what do we need to say. …We really have to cultivate character in ourselves, as theatre artists, black performance artists. We are always like ‘In the room, in the room’ but if you are not that outside of the room, how will you be it, how will you suddenly summon up the courage, how will you suddenly summon up knowledge that you don’t have? It behooves us to keep having conversations like these.”

On Safety in Process

Susanna “We do need to always be taking the temperature in the room and go: How are we doing? Is this enthusiastically working? Or are we all like ‘Oh, knives in the air, elephants all over the place?’ And if that happens let’s talk then, before one of the elephants pierces another elephant. If we feel the temperature rising, we can always go ‘Are we ok? Is there something we need to discuss? Has something happened?’ Cause that might have happened two days ago. People’s reactions to things - I was chronically: something bad happens and three days later I’m upset. But I’ve learned to just kind of deal with it. We can’t expect everyone in the moment to react like, ‘Hi, I have the language and tools with which to do this.’ They may react three days later by having a small meltdown in a corner. I think it’s another reason why having producers in the room - or having outside eyes who are watching the process, just there for feedback - is really important. Because I’m still learning, and I still miss moments. There are still moments where I go, ‘I should have said something.’”

Chala “Asking questions is so important, just checking in with people, like kind of maybe more than seems reasonable, is important… There is so much talking that has to go down to make people feel safe.”

On Yes and No

Chala “I had an experience of realizing that I think of no as a rejection, or as like, ultimately negative; as a creative rejection, as a personal rejection, when really what I discovered through this process was that yes and no are both just pieces of information towards greater understanding and more complicity, and that is very fundamental for me.”

Sedina “Our theatre training has trained us out of ‘no.’ Yes and… but the spirit behind yes and is let’s collaborate - it isn’t do what you want. It isn’t yes to anything. It means a spirit of collaboration and that’s what we should be entering into. ‘No’ means, close this door but open a different door. Because that means we have to be creative in the way we do things…‘No’ can be so generous because you are helping the other person navigate, instead of letting them walk into a minefield.

Receiving a grant is usually considered a great event; an occasion to break out the champagne and reward yourself, a moment to reflect that a group of your peers deemed you worthy and part of the community. Grants keep art afloat in Canada, and should be a cause for celebration. Until it’s time to do your taxes, and then the world seems to fall apart and you curse the day you received that $7,000 from the Canada Council for the Arts.

There are many theories on how to deal with your grant when it comes to tax time, not all of which are helpful. The most important thing to remember is that grants awarded to individual artists are taxable income to the recipient. A T4A is issued to the recipient and reported to the Canada Revenue agency (CRA), who will expect that income to be reported.

With the new POSTSCRIPT patio Generator, Toronto Fringe and The TENT Program brought a new round of #UrgentExchange. The twitter crowdsourced topic was Precarity + Mental Health = :( and the topic Generator, Toronto Fringe and The TENT Program sourced was The New Faces of Criticism.

On July 10, 2018 we held our crowdsourced Precarity + Mental Health = :( #UrgentExchange. Representatives from Artist Health Alliance, Artist Health Centre, Dancer Transition Resource Centre, Workman Arts, and AFC met with artists to talk about to the precarity of our sector and how most artists are left with negative impact on their mental health. With a solid turn out of 30+ people on a Tuesday evening, we began brainstorming as if we were on the playground. Below are some pictures of what was brainstormed by the group:

Afterwards we gathered in one large group and discussed what came up in the brainstorming session. We discussed how we can take better care of ourselves, such as making our rehearsal spaces safer and breaking down these impractical normalities we have in our sector such as being busy is good and to suffer is to make great art. Money, uncertainty, and success were the most common topics being discussed regarding the mental health of artists.

At the end, all representatives from the organizations present went over some of the resources they provide. All of those will be compiled at ArtistProducerResource.com next month.

On July 13, 2018 The New Faces of Criticism #UrgentExchange was held at POSTSCRIPT. This event was ASL interpreted. Generator’s Performance Criticism Training Program and U of T Criticism Course both coordinated and facilitated by Toronto Star’s Karen Fricker and Carly Maga, the city has been gaining some new emerging voices in the performance criticism scene.

The #UrgentExchange began with break out groups where participants led by facilitators began brainstorming a future criticism. Karen Fricker led a breakout group discussing “Embedded Criticism” which is a “behind the scenes” way of approaching criticism that isn’t about analyzing/judging a piece of performance but more about following creative process. The notes from that discussion are here. Carly Maga facilitated a breakout group discussing the current landscape of performance criticism in Toronto, touching on some of its strengths and weakness, and what an ideal landscape would look like in the future. The notes from that discussion are here. Shay Erlich, who completed Generator’s Performance Criticism Training Program, facilitated the discussion of criticism is Disability Art. A fourth group which included graduates of our Performance Criticism Training Program, discussed the future of criticism.

At the end, the whole group came together to discuss what needs to change in the the criticism landscape right now to make a better future for artists and critics. A point that was touched on was doing research as a critic, to make sure facts and details are correct to accurately write with nuanced critique. Good questions came up such as:

Can we use theatre criticism to work against an existing system/use writing to challenge a system?

How should accessibility play into theatre criticism? How do we deconstruct "able body" as "neutral body?"

Are actors comfortable with a critic in rehearsal?

How can we move past land acknowledgements and integrate our lived colonial experience into theatre reviews, which are usually cis male dominant spaces?

Do you have to be a critic to have influence? Or can you build up your own following? How can we make criticism accessible?

How has the rise in online journalism affected arts coverage and criticism?

Both #UrgentExchanges at 2018 Toronto Fringe ran for 1 hour and 30 minutes, which was not enough time for either topics to be discussed but both events were a great jumping off educate ourselves and make change for the future.

This #UrgentExchange was planned weeks before Kristin Booth, Trish Fagan, Diana Bentley and Hannah Miller came forward. When they did, it became an opportunity for the Toronto theatre community to come together, reel, and start talking about some concrete things we can do to create concrete change. A special thank you to Donna-Michelle St. Bernard and Jivesh Parasram, who moderated a community convening before the #UrgentExchange began.

On Saturday, January 6th, seven groups of presenters (pictured) spoke about models for change, followed by on opportunity for audience members to learn more in break-out sessions. We are so glad to be able to share these presentations with you in video form (shot and edited by Ryan Weatherby) and we hope they will serve to educate, inspire, and bring change.

On Thursday January 4, 2018, in conjunction with Toronto Fringe, we held an #UrgentExchange entitled "DESIRING DIVERSITY, but who can afford to work for free?" The desire to do work with more diversity, inclusivity and accessibility is strong in Toronto’s independent performance community but can our communities be truly inclusive if financial obligations keep many artists out of our rehearsal halls? Who has the ability to ride the financial risk of a career in the arts? What can creators with financial privilege do to shift the systemic classism in the arts?

Our Executive Director, Kristina Lemieux was joined by speakers: Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, Jivesh Parasram, Michael Maranda, as well as a video instigation by Shaista Latif.

Generator Staff Kristina Lemieux, Deanna Galati and Annie MacKay sat down to compile the Things We’re Still Talking About A Week Later...- wordsmithing by Annie MacKay

Basic or Universal Income

This was a big one. If artists didn’t have to devote time and energy to figuring out where their rent money was going to come from (or to concealing that struggle), how much richer would their creative output be? If theatre-goers didn’t have to think about seeing a show as a financial risk (what if the show is terrible?) they would see more theatre - period.

A case against - https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/12/universal-basic-income-inequality-work

Adjacent Jobs

Our most liked and retweeted comment of the night was from Donna-Michelle: “Why are we not encouraging people to find adjacent careers in ways that support art, and not stigmatizing them as failed artists?” Jiv said something that’s helped him find balance has been finding the right “day job” (throwback to our July #UrgentExchange on work/work balance) For many artists, that is working in a production or arts management role, but the stigma that you can’t both be an artist AND and an administrator is REAL. And we need to change that.

Peer Assessment

"The idea that my work is adjudicated by someone who doesn't share my values is abhorrent to me," Donna-Michelle said. She encouraged all eligible theatre professionals to sit on peer juries and to consider this a public service, one that we all need to do for our community.

Privileged Artists: Step Up & Step Back

In her video instigation, Shaista Latif called out privileged white artists who seek out POC artists as “consultants” without making them integral parts of their projects (and she told POC artists to just SAY NO, even if it’s hard to turn down the money). So, privileged white artists, if you’re looking for a takeaway, that’s one. More takeaways: Jiv says if you are lucky enough to have leisure time, spend it advocating for change. Donna-Michelle says DO NOT push into spaces that aren’t for you, just because you are used to being welcome.

Pay Structures

There’s a balance between knowing your worth and being paid accordingly, and working within the financial constraints of the indie community. Leah-Simone Bowen, the Theatre Officer at the Toronto Arts Council, spoke from the audience and said what we need is for people to be more honest with each other. She has seen people walk away from projects because they demanded more money, but the organization simply had nothing left to give. Jiv said that we need to look beyond the Equity agreements for insight into how to pay artists properly. Also: when you are posting a job, DISCLOSE THE SALARY. Every time. Don’t waste people’s time.

A five part video series using case studies from Generator's Resident Companies Shakespeare in the Ruff, Outside the March and Litmus Theatre. This project was part is a Community Project as part of their residency.

COMING SOON: On November 13, 2017, Generator will launch the ArtistProducerResource.com. In this video, Project Launch Manager Alison Wong shares the top 3 reasons she is excited to launch this wiki resource.

Generator and ArtistProducerResource.com are supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Government of Canada and Business for the Arts.

COMING SOON: On November 13, 2017, Generator will launch the ArtistProducerResource.com. In this video, Executive Director Kristina Lemieux shares her top 3 reasons why this producing resource will be a useful tool for independent producers in Canada.

Generator and ArtistProducerResource.com are supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Government of Canada and Business for the Arts.

COMING SOON: On November 13, 2017, Generator will launch the ArtistProducerResource.com. In this video, Director of Coordination and Communications Katie Leamen shares her top 3 reasons she is looking forward to sharing this resource with other independent producers (*spoiler: she's been there...).

Generator and ArtistProducerResource.com are supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Government of Canada and Business for the Arts.

COMING SOON: On November 13, 2017, Generator will launch the ArtistProducerResource.com. In this video, Executive Director Kristina Lemieux and Director of Coordination and Communications Katie Leamen will explain the essentials of this new producing resource.

Generator and ArtistProducerResource.com are supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Government of Canada and Business for the Arts.

Artists who have been part of The Riser Project and Generator programs are the first to respond to the Executive Summary.

On October 27, 2017, Toronto Arts Foundation and The Metcalf Foundation co-hosted an event to share the Executive Summary from a two and a half year research study on two innovative new models: Generator's transformation and Why Not Theatre's The RISER Project. Commissioned by Toronto Arts Foundation with the support of The Metcalf Foundation, the study, originally named Means of Production and started by Sherri Helwig was later re-envisioned and completed by Helen Yung under the current title, Sector Developers: Generator and The RISER Project, Building up independent theatre in Toronto.

Thanks to tweeting by SpiderWebShow (aka Michael Wheeler, former Executive Director and Transformation Designer at Generator), you can read the tweeted account here (link below), or through the hashtag #CdnCult

Annemieke Wade, Managing Director of Roseneath Theatre sat down to share some hot tips and advice for producers to consider before talking to teachers. Enjoy and deploy her excellent advice from years of experience.

On July 13, 2017, we had our second#UrgentExchangein the Fringe Club Tent. In case you missed it, here is the whole conversation as tweeted. *Note: This session had some breakout partner discussions which couldn't all be captured, but we tweeted the findings that were reported back to the group.

In partnership with the Toronto Fringe, the #UrgentExchange series are community conversations on important and timely issues for indie artists. To ensure we are discussing the things YOU want to talk about, we crowdsource one of the topics using the hashtag #UrgentExchange, the other we pick from artists’ concerns we keep hearing. These are free events to attend in person and everyone is invited to participate in the conversations leading up to, during and afterwards through the hashtag and @GeneratorTO.